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Hoping for a bit of guidance / reassurance on air search and book flow in Sabre (SOAP API) which I'm integrating with for a client website project.

My client is planning to take payment separately via a 3rd party payment gateway and also have a 3rd party ticketing robot.

The details I have been given from the ticketing robot company is that we should create the PNR then queue transfer to "International/Domestic Agent Q50" (with their PCC).

I've got access to and have been reading the Sabre Dev Studio, have access to the Sabre SOAP API (I have my client's credentials and PCC) and have followed the "Low Far Search and Book" workflow here (https://developer.sabre.com/docs/read/workflows/Low_Fare_Search_and_Book) exchanging EnhancedAirBookRQ and PassengerDetailsRQ for CreatePassengerNameRecordRQ as advised on that page and inserting payment before, my proposed work flow is:

  1. Create a token with TokenCreateRQ
  2. Use token to perform a search with BargainFinderMaxRQ
  3. Display results to customer, customer picks an itinerary / flight segments
  4. Collect customer details from customer
  5. External payment gateway take payment for amount returned in BarginFinderMaxRQ
  6. Book the desired flight segments using the orchestrated API CreatePassengerNameRecordRQ, including:
    • Adding passenger details and flight segments
    • Specifying that the payment was in cash
    • Performing the queue transfer?

I've got BargainFinderMaxRQ coded up and working.

I'm starting the integration with CreatePassengerNameRecordRQ and have noticed the price returned can be different to the price returned from BargainFinderMaxRQ. Which makes me question the above work flow. I selected it due to the easier integration (I can use tokens rather than manage a session and it's just one API call).

So, my questions:

  1. Is my understanding correct, is this the correct work flow for the project? Given that my client is taking payment via an external payment gateway and want to display the final figure to the customer before they pay.

  2. I'm struggling to understand how the ticketing robot fits into the process. Hoping for a steer on how that affects the PNR call(s). Do I still set the ticket type to "7TAW" and queue place onto their PCC + queue number?

Thank you for any help, greatly appreciated.

David McMinn
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    Go to vendor website and look at bottom of webpage. It is better to ask the questions at vendor support pages than here : https://developer.sabre.com/docs/Home – jdweng Jan 08 '18 at 22:00

1 Answers1

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1) Yes, the process is correct, but there are scenarios in which airlines change fares or where the airline does not confirm the availability immediately, so when you price you are actually pricing an IATA fare, which is usually more expensive. For particular scenarios, I recommend you to contact the API support.

2) The "7TAW", which is the ticketing time limit, is meant to have the limit set by the airline until when you can issue the ticket without having the possibility of losing the given price. Some airlines require that to be done on the same day of the booking (which is what you are setting with the 7TAW). Some airlines give you some days and some others can give you just 30 minutes after booking. It is almost impossible for us to respond on how would the robot require this to be provided, so for you to be sure, I would recommend you checking with the owners of that robot and ask them how would they want it, maybe they don't even care.

Giancarlo
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  • Thank you that's great I will certainly do as you suggest. However, is there an alternative workflow where we can receive the final price from Sabre/the airlines before booking it, then take payment, then confirm booking via Sabre and if so would you recommend we switch to it? Sorry just getting a bit lost with all the magic strings and different workflows – David McMinn Jan 17 '18 at 08:21
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    You might want to check the Revalidate Itinerary service, which I think does what you need (DevStudio's description: Ability to recheck availability and price for a specific itinerary option without booking the itinerary. The solution revalidates if the itinerary option is valid for purchase). You have SOAP and REST flavors: https://developer.sabre.com/docs/read/soap_apis/air/search/revalidate_itinerary & https://developer.sabre.com/docs/read/rest_apis/air/search/revalidate_itinerary – Giancarlo Jan 17 '18 at 15:29
  • Thanks @Wisdoom the help very much appreciated – David McMinn Jan 18 '18 at 08:28